Tabor Canyon and Tiramisu

We've been so busy with our visiting family; it's hard to sit and write. Saturday was Beau's birthday. We celebrated by hiking Tabor Canyon. (The first photo is of he and Karly.)Not for the feint of heart, this hike requires scrambling over huge boulders and scaling ridges strewn with crumbling rock. Earlier this spring Robert and I took it to the top--a thousand feet I believe. It took us six hours round-trip with a break for lunch. At the higher elevations there are beautiful views to the ocean across Puerto Escondido. It is one of the more memorable experiences a visitor to this area could have. The rain from the hurricane in October has left the region wet and green. There are pools of water where there was none earlier this year.

This time we had children and other families along, so we didn't get past the first "chimney." I'm calling it that because I heard someone else call this enormous rock obstacle by that name. It requires that you walk through a pool of water and enter the crevice at the bottom of a pile of boulders and pull yourself up to the next elevation. It proved to be too much a challenge this time with kids in tow. So this trip was only about two and a half hours long.

After our hiking excursion we had a special birthday dinner at a new restaurant in Loreto: La Mision. It is at the new hotel on the Malecon. Though the hotel is not yet finished, the restaurant is recently opened. We visited with the chef, Rodrigo, the day before about making our evening a special event. He was to prepare a special menu for us. What we got was unexpected. It was fabulous. We had course after course of wonderful appetizers and entrees. Crab cakes, shrimp, scallops, lamb, duck, tiramisu cake. Rodrigo kept it coming and it was muy rico. The wine list wasn't half bad for Loreto. We had Pinot Noir from Willamette Valley--something you'll not find anywhere in these parts. Dinner was so good we talked about all the next day comparing it to other wonderful dining experiences we've had elsewhere. It ranks high we decided.

Overall, it was one of the best days we've had here as a family.